Synchronization for user equipment groups

ABSTRACT

User equipment in close proximity may transfer data and control information. For example, the user equipment may exchange data or data sets between each other. Each user equipment can receive and transmit data using radio access technologies. A group of user equipments may include active user equipment and passive user equipment. Active user equipment connects with one or more base stations and transfers data on a wireless communication network via the base station. The active user equipment may communicate with other active user equipment and passive user equipment. Passive user equipment may not connect to any base station and/or the wireless communication network and may communicate with other passive user equipment and active user equipment (e.g., via a sidelink, peer-to-peer, or device-to-device channel).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.63/278,438, filed Nov. 11, 2021, entitled “COOPERATIVE COORDINATIONSCHEMES FOR MULTI-NODE DEVICES,” the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication, andmore specifically to cooperative communication for user equipment in agroup of user equipment.

User equipment density has increased rapidly over the years. As such,user equipment may support several radio access technologies (RATs)simultaneously in close proximity to one another. Moreover, with the useof high spectrum frequencies (e.g., the millimeter wave (mmW) frequencyrange, the terahertz (THz) frequency range, and so on), coverage rangeof wireless communication networks may be limited by signal loss.Additionally, communication between each user equipment and a wirelesscommunication network may be performed through point-to-pointconnections without cooperation of nearby user equipment.

SUMMARY

A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. Itshould be understood that these aspects are presented merely to providethe reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and thatthese aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure.Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may notbe set forth below.

In an embodiment, an electronic device includes a transmitter, areceiver, and a processor coupled to the transmitter and the receiver.The processor receives a synchronization signal associated with awireless communication network from a base station, receives a first setof synchronization attributes based on the synchronization signal, andreceives a second set of synchronization attributes from a second userequipment, the second user equipment being configured to receive thesynchronization signal from the base station. The processor alsotransmits the first set of synchronization attributes to the second userequipment based on the first set of synchronization attributescorrelating with the second set of synchronization attributes.

In another embodiment, a method includes receiving, at a first userequipment, a first portion of system information associated with awireless communication network from a base station, receiving, at thefirst user equipment, a second portion of system information associatedwith the wireless communication network from a second user equipment viaa device-to-device communication link, and establishing a connectionwith the wireless communication network based at least in part on thefirst portion of system information and the second portion of systeminformation.

In yet another embodiment, one or more non-transitory, tangible,computer-readable media store instructions that cause a processor toreceive a first synchronization signal from a base station via awireless communication network, receive a second synchronization signalfrom a second user equipment via a device-to-device communication link,receive a set of system information based on the first synchronizationsignal and the second synchronization signal, and establish a connectionwith the wireless communication network based at least in part on theset of system information.

Various refinements of the features noted above may exist in relation tovarious aspects of the present disclosure. Further features may also beincorporated in these various aspects as well. These refinements andadditional features may exist individually or in any combination. Forinstance, various features discussed below in relation to one or more ofthe illustrated embodiments may be incorporated into any of theabove-described aspects of the present disclosure alone or in anycombination. The brief summary presented above is intended only tofamiliarize the reader with certain aspects and contexts of embodimentsof the present disclosure without limitation to the claimed subjectmatter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various aspects of this disclosure may be better understood upon readingthe following detailed description and upon reference to the drawingsdescribed below in which like numerals refer to like parts.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of user equipment, according to embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a functional diagram of the user equipment of FIG. 1 ,according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication system including theuser equipment of FIG. 1 communicatively coupled to a wirelesscommunication network supported by base stations, according toembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a communication system including agroup of user equipment communicatively coupled to the wirelesscommunication network of FIG. 3 , according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method to synchronize the group of userequipment in FIG. 4 using the wireless communication network, accordingto embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method to synchronize the group of userequipment of FIG. 4 using active user equipment of the group of userequipment, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method to adjust membership of the group ofuser equipment of FIG. 4 , according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method to share synchronization attributeswith the group of user equipment of FIG. 4 to communicate with thewireless communication network of FIG. 3 , according to embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a method to share phase synchronization datawith user equipment in the group of user equipment of FIG. 4 , accordingto embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method to receive radio synchronizationsignals from the wireless communication network of FIG. 3 , according toembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a method to receive an access response messagefrom the wireless communication network of FIG. 3 , according toembodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method to receive the access responsemessage using active user equipment of the group of user equipment ofFIG. 4 , according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

One or more specific embodiments will be described below. In an effortto provide a concise description of these embodiments, not all featuresof an actual implementation are described in the specification. Itshould be appreciated that in the development of any such actualimplementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerousimplementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve thedevelopers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related andbusiness-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation toanother. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a developmenteffort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be aroutine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those ofordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure.

When introducing elements of various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean thatthere are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,”“including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean thatthere may be additional elements other than the listed elements.Additionally, it should be understood that references to “oneembodiment” or “an embodiment” of the present disclosure are notintended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additionalembodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Furthermore, theparticular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined inany suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Use of the terms“approximately,” “near,” “about,” “close to,” and/or “substantially”should be understood to mean including close to a target (e.g., design,value, amount), such as within a margin of any suitable orcontemplatable error (e.g., within 0.1% of a target, within 1% of atarget, within 5% of a target, within 10% of a target, within 25% of atarget, and so on). Moreover, it should be understood that any exactvalues, numbers, measurements, and so on, provided herein, arecontemplated to include approximations (e.g., within a margin ofsuitable or contemplatable error) of the exact values, numbers,measurements, and so on. Additionally, the term “set” may include one ormore. That is, a set may include a unitary set of one member, but theset may also include a set of multiple members. Furthermore, as usedherein, a set may include a portion (e.g., a subset, all) of data and/orinformation. While the data is described herein as including two datasets or three data sets, this is intended to be illustrative of certainembodiments. As such, the data may include any suitable number of datasets (e.g., two data sets, three data sets, four data sets, eight datasets, and so forth). Additionally, as used herein, a first set of userequipment may include the same user equipment as another set of userequipment, different user equipment than another set of user equipment,additional user equipment than another set of user equipment, fewer userequipment than another set of user equipment, and so forth.

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication, andmore specifically to cooperative communication for user equipment in agroup of user equipment. Wireless device density has increased rapidlyover the years. Wireless communication between user equipment (UE) andwireless communication networks may occur directly through apoint-to-point connection without regards to nearby user equipment.Wireless UE may also support several radio access technologies (RATs)simultaneously in close proximity to one another. Moreover, with the useof high spectrum frequencies (the millimeter wave (mmW) frequency range,the terahertz (THz) frequency range, and so on), the range ofcommunication may be limited due to signal dissipation. Employing localcommunications (e.g., device-to-device communications, sidelink,peer-to-peer) may facilitate and improve the range, coverage,reliability and efficiency of communications between user equipment andwireless communication networks. This disclosure relates to systems,apparatuses, and techniques to enable user equipment to cooperate withadjacent user equipment to improve coverage and capacity.

User equipment may establish groups to facilitate and coordinatecommunication with wireless communication networks. Cooperativecommunication between user equipment may be beneficial for offloadingdata and controlling transmissions to one or more designated userequipment within a group of user equipment. Data sharing (e.g., via adevice-to-device communication link) may also reduce power consumptionfor user equipment in the group when compared to directly (e.g., withoutan intervening or intermediate device) communicating with a network.Embodiments herein provide various systems, apparatuses, and techniquesto provide cooperative communication for a group of user equipment. Inparticular, a communication network (e.g., a 5^(th) generation (5G)/NewRadio (NR) network, a 4^(th) generation (4G)/long term evolution (LTE®)network, a 6^(th) generation (6G) or greater than 6G network, and soon), via a base station, may communicate with the group of userequipment via one or more active user equipment (e.g., user equipmentconnected to or directly connected to the communication network). Theactive user equipment may communicate with passive user equipment (e.g.,user equipment disconnected from the communication network). Inparticular, the user equipment in the group may communicate using apersonal area network (PAN), a local area network (LAN) or wirelesslocal area network (WLAN), and/or a wide area network (WAN). Userequipment may establish and/or join any number of groups and may be amember of any number of groups simultaneously.

User equipment in close proximity with one another may transfer data andcontrol information. For example, the user equipment may exchange dataor data sets between each other. Each user equipment may receive andtransmit data using RATs. The user equipment may transmit and receivedata from a wireless communication network via any number of basestations or access points. A group of user equipment may include activeuser equipment and passive user equipment. An active user equipmentconnects with one or more base stations and transfers data on a wirelesscommunication network via the base station. That is, the active userequipment may be directly connected with one or more base stations.Additionally, the active user equipment may communicate with otheractive user equipment and passive user equipment. Passive user equipmentmay not connect to any base station and/or the wireless communicationnetwork and may communicate with other passive user equipment and activeuser equipment (e.g., via a sidelink, peer-to-peer, or device-to-devicechannel). That is, the passive user equipment may communicate indirectlywith the base station and/or the wireless communication network via anactive user device.

One or more of the active user equipment may be designated as a primaryuser equipment. The primary user equipment may control the groupmembership, define configuration for a device-to-device communicationlink, and may add or release user equipment from the group. Inparticular, primary user equipment may control roles for other userequipment in a local network. For example, a first user equipment, suchas a portable electronic device, may control and communicate withsecondary user equipment, such as a television, a tablet, a computer,and so forth. In some instances, one or more active user equipment andone or more passive user equipment may act as relay user equipment. Arelay user equipment may act as an intermediary device and may transferdata from one user equipment to another user equipment in the group.Additionally, the relay user equipment may facilitate communication withthe wireless communication network by transferring (e.g., tunneling)data from the base station to other user equipment in the group. Incertain embodiments, user equipment may have the same, similar, ordifferent roles and/or responsibilities in different groups of userequipment. For example, one or more user equipment may be designated asactive user equipment in a first group and may be designated as passiveuser equipment in a second group. Additionally or alternatively, one ormore user equipment may be designated as primary user equipment and/oractive user equipment in a first group and may be designated as passiveuser equipment and/or relay user equipment in a second group.Furthermore, one or more user equipment may have the same roles and/orresponsibilities for multiple groups of user equipment. Moreover, one ormore user equipment may have different roles and/or responsibilitieswithin a group of user equipment at different times. For example, one ormore user equipment may be designated as a primary user equipment and/oractive user equipment at a first time and may be designated as passiveuser equipment and/or relay user equipment at a second time.

The base stations of the wireless communication network may facilitatecommunication and provide access for active user equipment to receiveand transfer data to and from an application server and/or acommunication network. In certain instances, the base stations may beoperated and/or controlled by separate carriers or operators.Additionally, the base stations may operate using the same or differentcommunication technologies, such as one or more RATs and/or localnetworks.

One or more active user equipment may receive data or a data set. Theactive user equipment may transmit the data or the sets of data to otheractive user equipment and passive user equipment in the group. That is,the active user equipment may receive the data and/or the data sets andmay cooperate and coordinate to facilitate communication of the datafrom a base station to other user equipment. In certain instances, eachactive user equipment may connect to one or more base stations.Moreover, the active user equipment may receive the same and/ordifferent data or data sets from different base stations. Additionally,the different base stations may communicate with the active userequipment using the same or different communication technologies. Thepassive user equipment may receive the data or the data sets from otherpassive user equipment and/or the active user equipment. As such, a setof the user equipment (e.g., any number of active user equipment, anynumber of passive user equipment, or any combination thereof) mayreceive the data sets either directly (e.g., from the base station)and/or indirectly (e.g., from one or more active user equipment, fromone or more passive user equipment, or any combination thereof) from thewireless communication network. The user equipment in the group mayassemble the data based on the data sets.

In certain instances, the application server may split data into one ormore data sets and may transfer the one or more sets to one or more basestations. The active user equipment may receive the sets from the basestations. For example, a first active user equipment may receive a firstset from a first base station and a second active user equipment mayreceive a second set from the second base station. The active userequipment may exchange the data sets between each other and each activeuser equipment may reassemble the sets to form the data. Additionally oralternatively, the base stations may split data into data sets and/ormay split data sets into data subsets.

In some instances, a first set of the active user equipment may utilizea second set of the active user equipment to receive and transfer one ormore data sets or portions of the data. In particular, the first set ofthe active user equipment may cooperate and coordinate to transmit thesame data and/or the same data sets. Additionally or alternatively, thefirst set of the active user equipment may not transmit its receiveddata set to other sets of the user equipment and may assemble multipledata sets received from the other sets of the user equipment. The firstset of the active user equipment may receive one or more data sets fromthe second set of the active user equipment. Accordingly, only the firstset of the active user equipment may receive all data sets and mayreassemble the data from the data sets. Additionally, the first set ofthe active user equipment may transmit one or more data sets to one ormore passive user equipment. Alternatively, the first set of the activeuser equipment may transmit the data to one or more passive userequipment. In some instances, a first passive user equipment maytransmit one or more data sets or the data to a second passive userequipment. Additionally, the active user equipment may cooperate totransmit the same data set to one or more base stations simultaneously,concurrently, consecutively, overlapping, separately, and so forth.Moreover, a passive user equipment may transmit the same data set toseveral active user equipment for transmission to the base stations. Incertain instances, the passive user equipment may transmit the same dataset sequentially or broadcast concurrently to several active userequipment.

In order to transfer data and/or data sets consistently and efficiently,the base stations and/or the active user equipment may split the datainto data sets and may transfer the data sets to user equipment withinthe group. The user equipment may then transfer the data and/or the datasets to other user equipment in the group using local networks and localconnections. Once received, the user equipment may assemble the datasets. Data transfer, data splitting, and/or data assembly may beimplemented in different layers of various communication protocols.

Additionally, the data may be steered to particular or target activeuser equipment. For example, the application server may determine afirst data set to transmit to a first active user equipment, a seconddata set to transmit to a second active user equipment, and so forth.Additionally or alternatively, a first base station may determine athird data set to transmit to a second base station based on aconnection status between the second base station and the applicationserver.

In certain embodiments, the application server and/or the base stationsmay generate and/or provide routing information associated with thedata. The routing information may include a path (e.g., sequence of userequipment that receive the data, ordering of user equipment that receivethe data, and so forth). For example, the base station may generateand/or receive the routing information based on information associatedwith the group of user equipment. The information may include a list ofdevice-to-device communication links (e.g., current communication links,historical communication links, available communication links, and soforth) between the user equipment. The base station may generate and/orreceive a path for transmission of the data to the target userequipment. The base station may first transmit the routing informationto one or more active user equipment communicatively coupled to the basestation. The routing information may specify one or more active userequipment to receive the data and/or the routing information from thebase station. In certain embodiments, the routing information mayspecify one or more passive user equipment to receive the data and/orthe routing information from the one or more active user equipment.Additionally or alternatively, the routing information may specify oneor more active user equipment and/or one or more passive user equipmentto transmit the data and/or the routing information to the target userequipment. As such, the routing information may specify a path orrouting for the data and/or the routing information to take from theapplication server to the base stations to the user equipment (e.g.,active user equipment, passive user equipment, target user equipment).

In some embodiments, the routing information may specify a first set ofactive user equipment to transmit the data and/or the routinginformation to from a first base station. Additionally or alternatively,the routing information may specify a second set of active userequipment to transmit the data and/or the routing information to from asecond base station. As such, the routing information may include a pathor routing for the data and/or the routing information from theapplication server to one or more active user equipment within the groupof user equipment via the base stations. In certain embodiments, therouting information may specify a first set of passive user equipment totransmit the data and/or the routing information to from the first setof active user equipment. Additionally or alternatively, the routinginformation may specify a second set of passive user equipment totransmit the data and/or the routing information to from the second setof active user equipment. The routing information may also specifyactive user equipment transmit the data and/or the routing informationto other active user equipment. The routing information may also specifypassive user equipment transmit the data and/or the routing informationto other passive user equipment. The routing information may alsospecify the target user equipment to receive the data and/or the routinginformation. While the above describes paths or routing for data from anapplication server to target user equipment, routing information mayalso be used to specify a path or routing for data from any userequipment to the application server via active user equipment, passiveuser equipment, base stations, and so forth. Additionally oralternatively, the routing information may be transmitted (e.g., by thebase stations, by the user equipment) concurrently with the data,subsequently to transmission of the data, prior to transmission of thedata, or any other suitable timing.

Active user equipment may be controlled or configured using controlchannels based on the direct connection to the base station. Passiveuser equipment may have an indirect connection to the base station andmay be accessible via an updated control channel path. Control channelsprovide configuration data to user equipment for paging the userequipment and scheduling data reception and transmission. Active userequipment may identify that a paging message, a configuration message,and/or control data is intended for passive user equipment. The activeuser equipment may perform the identification based on an identifierassociated with a protocol layer format.

A Radio Resource Control (RRC) message may provide configuration data touser equipment. The base station may transmit the RRC message to anactive user equipment that in turn transmits the message to a passiveuser equipment. Responses may be transmitted to the base station via theactive user equipment (e.g., in some cases, from passive userequipment). Downlink Control Information (DCI) and Uplink ControlInformation (UCI) may be utilized to control physical layer operation.

Moreover, the user equipment may utilize various criteria for enteringand/or leaving a group of user equipment. The criteria may include anetwork signal quality of the user equipment, a power connection, abattery level of the user equipment, a time window, a geographic area ofthe user equipment, user equipment capabilities (e.g., communicationcapabilities, computing and/or processing capabilities, sensingcapabilities, and so forth), a device-to-device connection, a trustlevel between user equipment, and so forth. The network signal qualityof the user equipment may be compared to a threshold. When below thethreshold, there may be a risk that service is interrupted. If anotheruser equipment or a group of user equipment are in close proximity, theuser equipment may attempt to form a group or enter the previouslyformed group. If a user equipment is connected to an electrical grid(e.g., such that it is not powered via its battery), it may no longerrequire the benefits of shared resources within a group and may leavethe group. Alternatively, when connected to electrical grid, the userequipment may receive additional tasks within the group. Additionally,the criteria may be selected based on user preferences and/or userequipment history.

Formation of the group of user equipment may begin with user equipmentdiscovery. The user equipment may receive an input to begin userequipment discovery. Additionally or alternatively, the user equipmentmay begin discovery based on satisfaction of any number of discoverycriteria. For example, the discovery criteria may include a powerconnection, a battery level of the user equipment, a signal strength(e.g., Received Signal Strength Indicator, signal to noise ratio (SNR),or other signal characteristics) associated with the wirelesscommunication network, a time window, a geographic area of the userequipment, and so forth. User equipment may discover other nearby userequipment using wired communications, such as power-line communication(PLC), such as a broadband over power lines (BPL) communication, and/orwireless communications, such as personal area network (PAN), such as anultra-wideband (UWB) or a BLUETOOTH® network, a local area network (LAN)or wireless local area network (WLAN), and/or a wide area network (WAN).User equipment may be permitted to search for and join a group of userequipment during a particular time window. Additionally, the userequipment may search for and enter a group of user equipment when withina particular geographic area or in proximity or range of a set of userequipment, such as a home or an office. Alternatively, the userequipment may leave a group when leaving the particular geographic areaor the proximity or range of the set of user equipment. User equipmentthat lacks radio technology or does not support particular frequenciesmay search for and enter a group of user equipment with different and/orgreater user equipment capabilities. Additionally, the user equipmentmay determine whether the user equipment capabilities permit the userequipment to communicate with other user equipment in the group. Theuser equipment may determine whether a stable device-to-deviceconnection is available with one or more user equipment in the groupbased on the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) and signal tonoise ratio (SNR), or other signal characteristics. User equipment trustmay be established based on previously entering the group of userequipment.

User equipment may save power by causing a cellular modem or transceiverto enter a power saving state, such that the cellular modem does notsend or receive signals. When it is time to send or receive signals, theuser equipment may activate or wake the cellular modem up to enter anoperational state. However, there may be complications in waking up themodem to receive signals when the modem is in the power saving state.

User equipment may continuously or periodically activate a receiver(e.g., a receiver of a cellular modem) to ensure that wireless (e.g.,cellular) signals are received. However, this continuous or periodicactivation of the receiver may consume excessive power. Instead, theuser equipment may include a wake-up or low power receiver that mayconsume less power than the cellular receiver as it is lower incomplexity (e.g., may not demodulate a received signal, may not amplifya received signal, may not filter a received signal, or so on). If theuser equipment is not actively receiving a wireless signal, or notreceiving a wireless signal for a threshold period of time, the userequipment may cause the receiver to enter a sleep or power-saving mode,or be deactivated (e.g., powered off), and activate the wake-up signalreceiver. The wake-up signal receiver may then periodically scan for awireless wake-up signal sent from a wireless (e.g., cellular) network.

Upon receiving the wake-up signal, the wake-up signal receiver mayactivate or wake up the cellular receiver, which may begin receivingwireless signals (e.g., cellular signals having user data). The wake-upsignal receiver may then enter a sleep or power-saving mode, or bedeactivated. However, embedding the wake-up signal in a cellular signal(e.g., having a frequency between 700 megahertz (MHz) and 71 gigahertz(GHz)) may include several drawbacks, such as causing interference withthe cellular signal and/or other cellular signals and/or reducingoverall spectrum efficiency of a cell or base stations. That is, anincrease in traffic of the cell may negatively impact coordinationbetween the wake-up signal receiver and the cell.

The wake-up signals may have low frequencies (e.g., 1 gigahertz or less,800 megahertz (MHz) or less, within a range of 500 MHz to 680 MHz, andso on), such as by using a television whitespace spectrum. In someembodiments, the cellular network may determine that the user equipmentshould enter the sleep mode (e.g., due to inactivity of the cellularreceiver), and the network (e.g., via a Next Generation NodeB (gNodeB orgNB) base station) may request resources for the user equipment andactivate the wake-up signal receiver of the user equipment. Inadditional or alternative embodiments, when the cellular receiver of theuser equipment enters an idle state (e.g., an RRC Idle or Inactivestate), the cellular network (e.g., via the gNodeB base station) mayrequest resources for the user equipment and activate the wake-up signalreceiver of the user equipment.

In the event that that the network has data to send to the userequipment, a threshold time has expired, and so on, the network mayrequest a wake-up signal, which broadcasts the wake-up signal that maybe received by the user equipment. Similarly, if the user equipment hasdata (e.g., user data) to transmit to the network, the user equipmentmay acquire a cell supported by a base station of the network. In thismanner, the user equipment may cause its cellular receiver to enter apower-saving mode and activate its wake-up signal receiver when it isnot actively receiving data, ensuring that the wake-up signal receiveractivates its cellular receiver when there is data to send or receive,while saving power.

Entering a group of user equipment may begin with group discovery. Oneor more user equipment within the group may transmit reference signalson a local communications frequency. The reference signals may includethe specialized wake-up signals that reduce power consumption. The userequipment may transmit and/or receive the wake-up signals via adevice-to-device connection. Additionally or alternatively, thereference signals may include a first reference signal that includes aspecialized wake-up signal and a second reference signal that includesadditional information. The user equipment may transmit the secondreference signal based on an acknowledgement from another user equipmentof the first reference signal. The user equipment may select one or morereference signals based on various transmission criteria. For example,the transmission criteria may include a power connection, a batterylevel of the user equipment, a time window, a geographic area of theuser equipment, user equipment capabilities (e.g., communicationcapabilities, computing and/or processing capabilities, sensingcapabilities, and so forth), and so forth.

User equipment outside the group may periodically search for and attemptto detect the reference signals. Additionally or alternatively, anynumber of user equipment may receive a synchronization signal from oneor more base stations via the wireless communication network. The userequipment may receive the synchronization signal and may scan forreference signals and/or transmit reference signals. The user equipmentmay measure the reference signals and join the group. The next step ofentering the group includes establishing device-to-device connections.The device-to-device connection may be direct or through a local networkconnection. The user equipment may also exchange user equipmentcapabilities. The user equipment capabilities may be utilized todetermine preferred communication frequencies, the types ofcommunication technologies of the group and the new user equipment, acurrent battery status of the user equipment, a current thermal statusof the user equipment, and so forth. Each user equipment mayperiodically send a keep alive message to at least one primary userequipment and/or active user equipment in the group. Additionally, theuser equipment may send an exit message to at least one primary userequipment and/or active user equipment in the group. For example, theuser equipment may send the exit message based on failing to satisfy anynumber of group criteria, such as a signal strength associated with adevice-to-device connection to at least one primary user equipmentand/or active user equipment.

To maintain the group, the number of active user equipment and/or thenumber of passive user equipment may be controlled (e.g., by the primaryuser equipment). For example, if an active user equipment leavescoverage of a base station, the active user equipment may be reassignedas a passive user equipment. A primary user equipment may fall below abattery threshold and a new primary user equipment may be assigned. Theprimary user equipment may receive regular updates from other userequipment in the group regarding battery status, thermal status, andlink status of the user equipment. Additionally, the primary userequipment may maintain a list of candidates from the active userequipment to be assigned as a new primary user equipment. The primaryuser equipment may send a request to one of the candidates to become anew primary user equipment. Additionally, the primary user equipment maydetermine elapsed times from receiving keep alive messages and/or fromreceiving data from any of the user equipment within the group. Theprimary user equipment may compare the elapsed times to a threshold timeduration and may transmit an exit message based on one or more of theelapsed times exceeding the threshold time duration. The primary userequipment may remove a device identifier associated with the userequipment based on the elapsed time. Additionally, the user equipmentmay determine elapsed times from receiving keep alive messages and/orfrom receiving data from at least one primary user equipment and/oractive user equipment. The user equipment may compare the elapsed timesto a second threshold time duration and may transmit an exit messagebased on one or more of the elapsed times.

The group of user equipment may cooperate to communicate with thewireless communication network. The user equipment may receivesynchronization signals to facilitate communication with the wirelesscommunication network. The user equipment may be synchronized in one ormore of time, frequency, and/or phase. The synchronization signal mayinclude timing information that assists the user equipment intransmission and/or reception of data via the wireless communicationnetwork. The synchronization signal may also include frequencyinformation that reduces phase drift. The synchronization signal mayalso include phase information that provides coherent (e.g., in-phase)signal transmission to the wireless communication network. Additionally,the primary user equipment may transmit a selected time, a selectedfrequency, and/or a selected phase to other user equipment in the group.The primary user equipment may also select one or more of a carrierfrequency, a bandwidth, a sub-carrier spacing, and so forth associatedwith the wireless communication network.

One or more base stations may transmit the synchronization signals toany number of user equipment. The user equipment may also receivesynchronization signals from a source external from the wirelesscommunication network, such as a global navigation satellite system(GNSS) signal. Alternatively, any user equipment may transmitsynchronization signals to other user equipment within the group. Theuser equipment may receive the synchronization signals and may determinetiming synchronization and/or frequency synchronization based on thesynchronization signals. The primary user equipment may select abandwidth associated with the synchronization signals. Additionally, theprimary user equipment may select a transmission duration associatedwith the synchronization signals based on the frequency. The primaryuser equipment may also select a periodicity associated with thesynchronization signals.

Each user equipment may transmit sounding reference signals to one ormore base stations via the wireless communication network. The basestations may receive the sounding reference signals and may determinephase relationships (e.g., phase differences) between the userequipment. Additionally, the base stations may determine and/or mayselect a set of phases that provides optimized signal strength forcommunications between the group of user equipment and the wirelesscommunication network. The base stations may transmit the set of phasesto any number of user equipment, such as the primary user equipment. Theprimary user equipment may transmit the set of phases to other userequipment within the group.

Establishing communication with the wireless communication network maybegin with receiving system synchronization signals, such as a primarysynchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS),and so forth. The user equipment may receive the synchronization signalsand may determine radio frame boundaries based on the synchronizationsignals. The user equipment may also receive system informationtransmitted via one or more base stations of the wireless communicationnetwork. The primary user equipment may transmit user equipmentcapabilities associated with the primary user equipment to one or moreactive user equipment. The user equipment capabilities may includecommunication capabilities, computing and/or processing capabilities,sensing capabilities, radio frequency bands, carrier frequencies, cellidentifiers, radio access technologies, and so forth associated with theprimary user equipment. The active user equipment may receive thesynchronization signals and/or the system information from the wirelesscommunication network based on the user equipment capabilitiesassociated with the primary user equipment. The active user equipmentmay receive a portion of the synchronization signals and/or a portion ofthe system information. The primary user equipment may receive theseportions from the active user equipment and may assemble these portionsto form the synchronization signals and/or the system information.

The primary equipment may select a set of communication parameters, suchas a frequency, a time, a cell identifier, and so forth, forcommunication with the wireless communication network based on thesynchronization signals and/or the system information. The primaryequipment may transmit the set of communication parameters to the activeuser equipment within the group. The primary user equipment may transmita random access signal to the active user equipment within the group.The primary user equipment may also instruct the active user equipmentto transmit the random access signal based on the set of communicationparameters. The primary user equipment may also transmit the randomaccess signal based on the set of communication parameters. One or morebase stations may receive the random access signal and may transmit anacknowledgement message to the primary user equipment and/or the activeuser equipment. The primary user equipment may retransmit the randomaccess signal if the acknowledgement message is not received within athreshold time duration. The primary user equipment may also instructthe active user equipment to retransmit the random access signal. Thegroup of user equipment may retransmit the random access signal withvarious relative phases. The group of user equipment may periodicallyretransmit the random access signal until the acknowledgement message isreceived. Alternatively, the group of user equipment may retransmit therandom access signal until a threshold number of transmissions isreached. Additionally, each user equipment may adjust a transmissionpower associated with the random access signal for subsequenttransmissions. The random access signal may include an orthogonalsignal.

The base stations may transmit the acknowledgement message to the groupof user equipment. The acknowledgement message may include communicationinformation associated with the wireless communication network. The basestation may transmit an indication of the acknowledgement message on adownlink control channel. The base station may also transmit informationassociated with downlink shared channel. The user equipment may monitorthe downlink control channel and may receive control channel informationfrom the base stations via the downlink control channel. The active userequipment may transmit control channel signals to the primary userequipment that aggregates and/or assembles the control channel signalsfor processing and decoding control channel information. The active userequipment may receive and/or decode the control channel information andmay transmit the control channel information to the primary userequipment. The control channel information may include downlink controlinformation that identifies information associated with a transmission(e.g., the acknowledgement message) on the downlink shared channel. Theuser equipment may utilize the information to receive theacknowledgement message via the downlink shared channel. Additionally,the user equipment may receive access message information associatedwith transmission of an access message to the base stations.

The primary user equipment may receive the access message informationand may determine communication parameters (e.g., time, frequency,temporary identifier, timing adjustment, and so forth) associated withtransmission of the access message. The primary user equipment maytransmit the communication parameters to the active user equipment. Theprimary user equipment may instruct the active user equipment totransmit the access message based on the communication parameters. Theuser equipment may transmit the access message via an uplink sharedchannel. The user equipment may transmit the access message using aspace time block code (STBC) or orthogonal signal. Each user equipmentmay transmit a row of a STBC via an antenna. Additionally oralternatively, the primary user equipment may transmit a set of phasesto the active user equipment. Each phase may be associated with acorresponding active user equipment. The active user equipment maytransmit the access message based on the set of phases.

The base stations may receive the access message from one or more activeuser equipment. The base station may transmit a transition message inresponse to the access message. The transition message may cause theuser equipment to adjust an operational mode to a connected mode. In theconnected mode, the user equipment may communicate with the basestations via the downlink control channel, downlink shared channel,uplink control channel, and uplink shared channel. The user equipmentmay utilize multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) techniques fordata communication with the wireless communication network. On thedownlink channels, the active user equipment within the group mayreceive MIMO orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM)signals and/or time domain samples and may transmit the same to theprimary user equipment. The primary user equipment may demodulate theMIMO-OFDM signals. On the uplink channels, active user equipment withinthe group identify multiple sounding reference signal phase combinationsfor transmission of MIMO signals.

The user equipment may receive reconfiguration messages that reconfigurethe user equipment to allow local communication between the userequipment. The reconfiguration messages may include an additional delayfor a user equipment within the group of user equipment to allow forlocal communication. That is, user equipment that join the group may bereconfigured to include the additional delay.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of user equipment 10 (e.g., a mobileelectronic device), according to embodiments of the present disclosure.The user equipment 10 may include, among other things, one or moreprocessors 12 (collectively referred to herein as a single processor forconvenience, which may be implemented in any suitable form of processingcircuitry), memory 14, nonvolatile storage 16, a display 18, inputstructures 22, an input/output (I/O) interface 24, a network interface26, and a power source 29. The various functional blocks shown in FIG. 1may include hardware elements (including circuitry), software elements(including machine-executable instructions) or a combination of bothhardware and software elements (which may be referred to as logic). Theprocessor 12, memory 14, the nonvolatile storage 16, the display 18, theinput structures 22, the input/output (I/O) interface 24, the networkinterface 26, and/or the power source 29 may each be communicativelycoupled directly or indirectly (e.g., through or via another component,a communication bus, a network) to one another to transmit and/orreceive data between one another. It should be noted that FIG. 1 ismerely one example of a particular implementation and is intended toillustrate the types of components that may be present in the userequipment 10.

By way of example, the user equipment 10 may include any suitablecomputing device, including a desktop or notebook computer (e.g., in theform of a MacBook®, MacBook® Pro, MacBook Air®, iMac®, Mac® mini, or MacPro® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), a portableelectronic or handheld electronic device such as a wireless electronicdevice or smartphone (e.g., in the form of a model of an iPhone®available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), a tablet (e.g., in theform of a model of an iPad® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino,Calif.), a wearable electronic device (e.g., in the form of an AppleWatch® by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.), and other similar devices.It should be noted that the processor 12 and other related items in FIG.1 may be embodied wholly or in part as software, hardware, or both.Furthermore, the processor 12 and other related items in FIG. 1 may be asingle contained processing module or may be incorporated wholly orpartially within any of the other elements within the user equipment 10.The processor 12 may be implemented with any combination ofgeneral-purpose microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signalprocessors (DSPs), field programmable gate array (FPGAs), programmablelogic devices (PLDs), controllers, state machines, gated logic, discretehardware components, dedicated hardware finite state machines, or anyother suitable entities that may perform calculations or othermanipulations of information. The processors 12 may include one or moreapplication processors, one or more baseband processors, or both, andperform the various functions described herein.

In the user equipment 10 of FIG. 1 , the processor 12 may be operablycoupled with a memory 14 and a nonvolatile storage 16 to perform variousalgorithms. Such programs or instructions executed by the processor 12may be stored in any suitable article of manufacture that includes oneor more tangible, computer-readable media. The tangible,computer-readable media may include the memory 14 and/or the nonvolatilestorage 16, individually or collectively, to store the instructions orroutines. The memory 14 and the nonvolatile storage 16 may include anysuitable articles of manufacture for storing data and executableinstructions, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, rewritableflash memory, hard drives, and optical discs. In addition, programs(e.g., an operating system) encoded on such a computer program productmay also include instructions that may be executed by the processor 12to enable the user equipment 10 to provide various functionalities.

In certain embodiments, the display 18 may facilitate users to viewimages generated on the user equipment 10. In some embodiments, thedisplay 18 may include a touch screen, which may facilitate userinteraction with a user interface of the user equipment 10. Furthermore,it should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the display 18 mayinclude one or more liquid crystal displays (LCDs), light-emitting diode(LED) displays, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays,active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays, or somecombination of these and/or other display technologies.

The input structures 22 of the user equipment 10 may enable a user tointeract with the user equipment 10 (e.g., pressing a button to increaseor decrease a volume level). The I/O interface 24 may enable userequipment 10 to interface with various other electronic devices, as maythe network interface 26. In some embodiments, the I/O interface 24 mayinclude an I/O port for a hardwired connection for charging and/orcontent manipulation using a standard connector and protocol, such asthe Lightning connector provided by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., auniversal serial bus (USB), or other similar connector and protocol. Thenetwork interface 26 may include, for example, one or more interfacesfor a personal area network (PAN), such as an ultra-wideband (UWB) or aBLUETOOTH® network, a local area network (LAN) or wireless local areanetwork (WLAN), such as a network employing one of the IEEE 802.11xfamily of protocols (e.g., WI-FI®), and/or a wide area network (WAN),such as any standards related to the Third Generation PartnershipProject (3GPP), including, for example, a 3^(rd) generation (3G)cellular network, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS),4^(th) generation (4G) cellular network, long term evolution (LTE®)cellular network, long term evolution license assisted access (LTE-LAA)cellular network, 5^(th) generation (5G) cellular network, and/or NewRadio (NR) cellular network, a 6^(th) generation (6G) or greater than 6Gcellular network, a satellite network, a non-terrestrial network, and soon. In particular, the network interface 26 may include, for example,one or more interfaces for using a Release-15 cellular communicationstandard of the 5G specifications that include the millimeter wave(mmWave) frequency range (e.g., 24.25-300 gigahertz (GHz)) and/or anyother cellular communication standard release (e.g., Release-16,Release-17, any future releases) that define and/or enable frequencyranges used for wireless communication. The network interface 26 of theuser equipment 10 may allow communication over the aforementionednetworks (e.g., 5G, Wi-Fi, LTE-LAA, and so forth).

The network interface 26 may also include one or more interfaces for,for example, broadband fixed wireless access networks (e.g., WIMAX®),mobile broadband Wireless networks (mobile WIMAX®), asynchronous digitalsubscriber lines (e.g., ADSL, VDSL), digital videobroadcasting-terrestrial (DVB-T®) network and its extension DVB Handheld(DVB-H®) network, ultra-wideband (UWB) network, alternating current (AC)power lines, and so forth.

FIG. 2 is a functional diagram of the user equipment 10 of FIG. 1 ,according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, theprocessor 12, the memory 14, the transceiver 30, a transmitter 52, areceiver 54, and/or antennas 55 (illustrated as 55A-55N, collectivelyreferred to as an antenna 55) may be communicatively coupled directly orindirectly (e.g., through or via another component, a communication bus,a network) to one another to transmit and/or receive data between oneanother.

The user equipment 10 may include the transmitter 52 and/or the receiver54 that respectively enable transmission and reception of data betweenthe user equipment 10 and an external device via, for example, a network(e.g., including base stations or access points) or a direct connection.As illustrated, the transmitter 52 and the receiver 54 may be combinedinto the transceiver 30. The user equipment 10 may also have one or moreantennas 55A-55N electrically coupled to the transceiver 30. Theantennas 55A-55N may be configured in an omnidirectional or directionalconfiguration, in a single-beam, dual-beam, or multi-beam arrangement,and so on. Each antenna 55 may be associated with a one or more beamsand various configurations. In some embodiments, multiple antennas ofthe antennas 55A-55N of an antenna group or module may becommunicatively coupled a respective transceiver 30 and each emit radiofrequency signals that may constructively and/or destructively combineto form a beam. The user equipment 10 may include multiple transmitters,multiple receivers, multiple transceivers, and/or multiple antennas assuitable for various communication standards. In some embodiments, thetransmitter 52 and the receiver 54 may transmit and receive informationvia other wired or wireline systems or means.

The user equipment 10 may include the wake-up or low power receiverthat, in operation, consumes less power than the receiver 54 as it islower in complexity (e.g., may not demodulate a received signal, may notamplify a received signal, may not filter a received signal, or so on).That is, the wake-up WUS receiver may include fewer or less complexcomponents than the receiver 54, such that, in operation, it uses lesspower than the receiver 54. For example, the wake-up signal receiver maynot include a demodulator, an amplifier, a filter, or the like, wherethe receiver 54 does include such a component. Moreover, the variouscomponents of the user equipment 10 may be coupled together by a bussystem 58. The bus system 58 may include a data bus, for example, aswell as a power bus, a control signal bus, and a status signal bus, inaddition to the data bus. The components of the user equipment 10 may becoupled together or accept or provide inputs to each other using someother mechanism.

Moreover, the various components of the user equipment 10 may be coupledtogether by a bus system 56. The bus system 56 may include a data bus,for example, as well as a power bus, a control signal bus, and a statussignal bus, in addition to the data bus. The components of the userequipment 10 may be coupled together or accept or provide inputs to eachother using some other mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 includingthe user equipment 10 of FIG. 1 communicatively coupled to a wirelesscommunication network 102 supported by base stations 104A, 104B(collectively 104), according to embodiments of the present disclosure.In particular, the base stations 104 may include Next Generation NodeB(gNodeB or gNB) base stations and may provide 5G/NR coverage via thewireless communication network 102 to the user equipment 10. The basestations 104 may include any suitable electronic device, such as anaccess point, a communication hub or node, and so on, that facilitates,supports, and/or implements the network 102. In some embodiments, thebase stations 104 may include Evolved NodeB (eNodeB) base stations andmay provide 4G/LTE coverage via the wireless communication network 102to the user equipment 10. Each of the base stations 104 may include atleast some of the components of the user equipment 10 shown in FIGS. 1and 2 , including one or more processors 12, the memory 14, the storage16, the transceiver 30, the transmitter 52, and the receiver 54. Itshould be understood that while the present disclosure may use 5G/NR asan example specification or standard, the embodiments disclosed hereinmay apply to other suitable specifications or standards (e.g., such asthe 4G/LTE specification, a personal area network (PAN), a local areanetwork (LAN), wireless local area network (WLAN) such as Wi-Fi, ametropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), and so on).Moreover, the network 102 may include any suitable number of basestations 104 (e.g., one or more base stations 104, four or more basestations 104, ten or more base stations 104, and so on). Additionally oralternatively, the base stations 104 may include any number of userequipment 10 that communicatively couple to the wireless communicationnetwork 102.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a communication system 200 includingthe base stations 104 (e.g., base stations 104A, 104B, 104C), anapplication server 202, and a group of user equipment 206. Theapplication server 202 may include any suitable electronic device (e.g.,a desktop personal computer, a laptop, a mobile electronic device, atablet, a smartphone, a wearable device, or any other suitable computingdevice) and may include at least some of the components of the userequipment 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , including one or more processors12, the memory 14, the storage 16, the transceiver 30, the transmitter52, and the receiver 54. The communication system 200 may include anysuitable number of application servers 202 (e.g., one or moreapplication servers 202, four or more application servers 202, and soon). The base stations 104 may provide access for the group of userequipment 206 to transfer data and/or control information to and fromthe application server 202. In certain embodiments, a first base station104A may be associated with a different carrier or operator from asecond base station 104B. Additionally or alternatively, one or more ofthe base stations 104 may operate using the same carrier. The group ofuser equipment 206 may cooperate for transferring data and/or controlinformation. The group of user equipment 206 may include any number ofactive user equipment 208A, 208B, 208C (referred to collectively asactive user equipment 208) and/or any number of passive user equipment210A, 210B (referred to collectively as passive user equipment 210).Each user equipment (e.g., active user equipment 208, passive userequipment 210) may include any suitable electronic device and may be anexample of the user equipment 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 . As such, eachof the user equipment may include at least some of the components of theuser equipment 10, such as one or more processors 12, the memory 14, thestorage 16, the transceiver 30, the transmitter 52, and the receiver 54.Additionally, the group of user equipment 206 may include any suitablenumber of user equipment (e.g., any suitable number of active userequipment 208, any suitable number of passive user equipment 210).

Each of the active user equipment 208 may be communicatively coupled tothe wireless communication network 102 (e.g., via at least one of thebase stations 104). Additionally or alternatively, the active userequipment 208 may be communicatively coupled to other active userequipment 208 and/or at least one passive user equipment 210. Forexample, the active user equipment 208 may be communicatively coupledvia any suitable communication technique, such as a device-to-devicecommunication link, sidelink communication, peer-to-peer communication,and so forth. In certain embodiments, the active user equipment 208A mayserve as a relay for at least one active user equipment 208 and/or atleast one passive user equipment 210. For example, the active userequipment 208A may transfer data and/or control information receivedfrom one user equipment (e.g., active user equipment 208B, passive userequipment 210A) in the group 206 to another user equipment (e.g., activeuser equipment 208C, passive user equipment 210B) in the group 206.

In certain embodiments, any suitable number of active UE 208 may becommunicatively coupled with any number of base stations 104. A targetUE (e.g., first active UE 208A, first passive UE 210B) may request datafrom the wireless communication network 102. The group of UE 206 maycoordinate and cooperate to transmit the request to the wirelesscommunication network 102. Each active UE 208 may receive the data 204and/or one or more sets 204A, 204B (e.g., a portion, a subset) of thedata from the wireless communication network 102 via base stations 104.The active UEs 208 may transfer the sets of data to other active UEs 208within the group of user equipment 206. The active UEs 208 may assemblethe data based at least in part on the received sets of the data. Thegroup of user equipment 206 may coordinate and cooperate to provide thedata to the target UE. Accordingly, the target UE may receive the dataand/or the data sets and may assemble the data based on the data sets.

With the foregoing in mind, FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method 300 tosynchronize the group of user equipment 206 of FIG. 4 using the wirelesscommunication network 102, according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Any suitable device (e.g., a controller) that may controlcomponents of the network 102, the base stations 104, the applicationserver 202, the group of user equipment (UE) 206, the active UEs 208,and/or the passive UEs 210, such as one or more respective processors 12of these devices, may perform the method 300. In some embodiments, themethod 300 may be implemented by executing instructions stored in atangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the one ormore respective memories 14 or storages 16 of these devices, using theprocessors 12. For example, the method 300 may be performed at least inpart by one or more software components, such as one or more respectiveoperating systems of the network 102, the base stations 104, theapplication server 202, the group of user equipment (UE) 206, the activeUEs 208, and/or the passive UEs 210, one or more software applicationsof the network 102, the base stations 104, the application server 202,the group of user equipment (UE) 206, the active UEs 208, and/or thepassive UEs 210 and the like. While the method 300 is described usingsteps in a specific sequence, it should be understood that the presentdisclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed indifferent sequences than the sequence illustrated, and certain describedsteps may be skipped or not performed altogether.

In process block 302, the network 102 and/or the application server 202broadcasts or transmits one or more synchronization signals to the basestations 104. The base stations 104 may receive the one or moresynchronization signals and may transmit (block 304) the one or moresynchronization signals to active UE 208A and active UE 208B.Alternatively, the base stations 104 may generate the one or moresynchronization signals. The first active UE 208A may receive (block306) the one or more synchronization signals from the base stations 104.The first active UE 208A may transmit (block 308) a reference signalbased on the one or more synchronization signals. In certainembodiments, the first active UE 208A may generate and/or may transmitthe reference signal in response to receiving the synchronizationsignal. As such, the synchronization signal may cause the first activeUE 208A to transmit the reference signal.

A second active UE 208B may receive (block 310) one or moresynchronization signals. After receiving the one or more synchronizationsignals, the second active UE 208B may scan (block 312) for one or morereference signals based on the one or more synchronization signals. Forexample, the synchronization signal may cause the second active UE 208Bto scan for the reference signal. The second active UE 208B may receive(block 314) the reference signal. The second active UE 208B may measurethe reference signal. The second active UE 208B may establish (block316) a device-to-device communication link with the first active UE 208Abased on the reference signal.

With the foregoing in mind, FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method 400 toforming the group of user equipment 206 of FIG. 4 , according toembodiments of the present disclosure. Any suitable device (e.g., acontroller) that may control components of the network 102, the basestations 104, the application server 202, the group of user equipment(UE) 206, the active UEs 208, and/or the passive UEs 210, such as one ormore respective processors 12 of these devices, may perform the method400. In some embodiments, the method 400 may be implemented by executinginstructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readablemedium, such as the one or more respective memories 14 or storages 16 ofthese devices, using the processors 12. For example, the method 400 maybe performed at least in part by one or more software components, suchas one or more respective operating systems of the network 102, the basestations 104, the application server 202, the group of user equipment(UE) 206, the active UEs 208, and/or the passive UEs 210, one or moresoftware applications of the network 102, the base stations 104, theapplication server 202, the group of user equipment (UE) 206, the activeUEs 208, and/or the passive UEs 210 and the like. While the method 400is described using steps in a specific sequence, it should be understoodthat the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps may beperformed in different sequences than the sequence illustrated, andcertain described steps may be skipped or not performed altogether.

In process block 402, the active UE 208 may receive a request for groupformation. For example, the active UE 208 may receive an inputindicative of the request to form the group of UE 206. The inputstructures 22 may receive the input and may transmit a signal indicativeof the input to the processor 12. The active UE 208 may receive (block404) a set of UE attributes associated with the active UE 208. Theactive UE 208 may utilize the set of UE attributes to determinepreferred communication frequencies, the types of communicationtechnologies associated with the active UE 208, a current battery statusof the active UE 208, a current thermal status of the active UE 208, andso forth. The set of UE attributes may include a power connection, abattery level of the active UE 208, a signal characteristic such as asignal strength (e.g., Received Signal Strength Indicator) or signalquality (e.g., signal to noise ratio (SNR)) associated with the wirelesscommunication network 102, a time window, a geographic area of theactive UE 208, and so forth. The active UE 208 may receive (block 406) aset of connection criteria. The set of connection criteria may includeany number of thresholds associated with corresponding UE attributes.For example, the network signal quality of the active UE 208 may becompared to a threshold. When below the threshold, there may be a riskthat service is interrupted. If another UE 10 or a group of UE 206 arein close proximity, the active UE 208 may attempt to form a group orenter the previously formed group of UE 206. Additionally, the criteriamay be selected based on user preferences and/or user equipment history.The active UE 208 may determine whether a stable device-to-deviceconnection is available with one or more user equipment 10 in the groupof UE 206 based on the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) andsignal to noise ratio (SNR), or other signal characteristics. Userequipment trust may be established based on previously entering thegroup of user equipment 206.

The active UE 208 may determine (block 408) whether the set of UEattributes satisfy at least one criteria of the set of the connectioncriteria. If the active UE 208 is connected to an electrical grid (e.g.,such that it is not powered via its battery), it may not require thebenefits of shared resources within the group of UE 206 and may not jointhe group of UE 206. Alternatively, when connected to the electricalgrid, the active UE 206 may join the group of UE 206 to receiveadditional tasks. The active UE 208 may be permitted to search for andjoin the group of UE 206 during a particular time window. Additionally,the active UE 208 may search for and enter the group of UE 206 whenwithin a particular geographic area or in proximity or range of a set ofUE 10, such as a home or an office. The active UE 208 may lack radiotechnology or does not support particular frequencies. As such, theactive UE 208 may search for and enter the group of UE 206 withdifferent and/or greater UE attributes. Additionally, the active UE 208may determine whether the UE attributes permit the active UE 208 tocommunicate with other user equipment in the group of UE 206. Inresponse to failing to satisfy at least one criteria of the set ofconnection criteria (NO path of block 408), the active UE 208 may returnto receive (block 402) a subsequent request for group formation.

Based on satisfaction of at least one criteria of the set of connectioncriteria (YES path of block 408), the active UE 208 may receive (block410) one or more synchronization signals. For example, the active UE 208may scan for the synchronization signals based on satisfying the atleast one criteria. The active UE 208 may receive the synchronizationsignals via the base stations 104. At block 412, the active UE 208 maytransmit a reference signal based on the one or more synchronizationsignals. The active UE 208 may transmit reference signals on a localcommunications frequency. The reference signals may include specializedwake-up signals that reduce power consumption. Additionally oralternatively, the reference signals may include a first referencesignal that includes a specialized wake-up signal and a second referencesignal that includes additional information. The active UE 208 maytransmit the second reference signal based on an acknowledgement fromanother UE 10 of the first reference signal. In certain embodiments, theactive UE 208 may select one or more reference signals based on varioustransmission criteria. For example, the transmission criteria mayinclude a power connection, a battery level of the user equipment, atime window, a geographic area of the user equipment, user equipmentcapabilities (e.g., communication capabilities, computing and/orprocessing capabilities, sensing capabilities, and so forth), and soforth. The active UE 208 may establish (block 414) a device-to-devicecommunication link with another UE 10. For example, the active UE 208may receive an acknowledgment message from the UE 10 based on receivingthe reference signals. The active UE 208 may establish thedevice-to-device communication link in response to receiving theacknowledgment message from the UE 10.

With the foregoing in mind, FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method 500 toadjust membership of the group of user equipment 206 of FIG. 4 ,according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Any suitable device(e.g., a controller) that may control components of the network 102, thebase stations 104, the application server 202, the group of userequipment (UE) 206, the active UEs 208, and/or the passive UEs 210, suchas one or more respective processors 12 of these devices, may performthe method 500. In some embodiments, the method 500 may be implementedby executing instructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory,computer-readable medium, such as the one or more respective memories 14or storages 16 of these devices, using the processors 12. For example,the method 500 may be performed at least in part by one or more softwarecomponents, such as one or more respective operating systems of thenetwork 102, the base stations 104, the application server 202, thegroup of user equipment (UE) 206, the active UEs 208, and/or the passiveUEs 210, one or more software applications of the network 102, the basestations 104, the application server 202, the group of user equipment(UE) 206, the active UEs 208, and/or the passive UEs 210 and the like.While the method 500 is described using steps in a specific sequence, itshould be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that thedescribed steps may be performed in different sequences than thesequence illustrated, and certain described steps may be skipped or notperformed altogether.

The UE 10 may receive (block 502) a set of UE attributes associated withthe UE 10. The set of UE attributes may include an elapsed time from aprevious keep-alive message, an elapsed time from receiving a task froma primary UE, and the like. The UE 10 may also receive (block 504) a setof connection criteria associated with the group of UE 206. In responseto failing to satisfy at least one criteria of the set of connectioncriteria (NO path of block 506), the UE 10 may transmit (block 508) anexit message. The UE 10 may compare the elapsed times to a thresholdtime duration and may transmit the exit message based on one or more ofthe elapsed times exceeding the threshold time duration. As such, the UE10 may terminate (block 510) one or more device-to-device communicationlinks with other UE 10 in the group of UE 206.

Based on satisfaction of at least one criteria of the set of connectioncriteria (YES path of block 506), the UE 10 may transmit (block 512) akeep-alive message. The UE 10 may periodically send a keep alive messageto at least one primary user equipment and/or active user equipment inthe group of UE 206. As such, the primary UE may maintain membership ofthe UE 10 within the group of UE 206. Additionally or alternatively, theprimary UE may transmit one or more keep-alive messages to UE 10 withinthe group of UE 206. The primary UE may maintain membership of the UE 10that transmit an acknowledgment of the keep-alive message. Additionally,the primary UE may terminate one or more device-to-device communicationlinks if no acknowledgment message is received from one or more UE 10within the group of UE 206. The primary UE may also transmit an exitmessage to one or more UE 10.

With the foregoing in mind, FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method 600 tosynchronize the group of user equipment 206 using synchronizationsignals from the wireless communication network 102, according toembodiments of the present disclosure. Any suitable device (e.g., acontroller) that may control components of the network 102, the basestations 104, the application server 202, the group of user equipment(UE) 206, the active UEs 208, and/or the passive UEs 210, such as one ormore respective processors 12 of these devices, may perform the method600. In some embodiments, the method 600 may be implemented by executinginstructions stored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readablemedium, such as the one or more respective memories 14 or storages 16 ofthese devices, using the processors 12. For example, the method 600 maybe performed at least in part by one or more software components, suchas one or more respective operating systems of the network 102, the basestations 104, the application server 202, the group of user equipment(UE) 206, the active UEs 208, and/or the passive UEs 210, one or moresoftware applications of the network 102, the base stations 104, theapplication server 202, the group of user equipment (UE) 206, the activeUEs 208, and/or the passive UEs 210 and the like. While the method 600is described using steps in a specific sequence, it should be understoodthat the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps may beperformed in different sequences than the sequence illustrated, andcertain described steps may be skipped or not performed altogether.

One or more base stations may transmit (block 602) one or moresynchronization signals to active UEs 208A and 208B. For example, thebase stations 104 may generate the synchronization signals. Thesynchronization signals may include a primary synchronization signal(PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and so forth. Thesynchronization signals may include timing information that assists theuser equipment in transmission and/or reception of data via the wirelesscommunication network. The synchronization signals may also includefrequency information that reduces phase drift. The synchronizationsignals may also include phase information that provides coherent (e.g.,in-phase) signal transmission to the wireless communication network. Atblock 604, the first active UE 208A may receive the one or moresynchronization signals. The first active UE 208A may also determine(block 606) a first set of synchronization attributes based on the oneor more synchronization signals. The synchronization attributes mayinclude a time, a frequency, a phase, a carrier frequency, a bandwidth,a sub-carrier spacing, and so forth based on the one or moresynchronization signals, the timing information, the frequencyinformation, and the phase information. At block 608, the second activeUE 208B may receive (block 608) the one or more synchronization signals.The second active UE 208B may also determine (block 610) a second set ofsynchronization attributes based on the one or more synchronizationsignals.

The second active UE 208B may transmit (block 612) the second set ofsynchronization attributes to the first active UE 208A. The first activeUE 208A may receive (block 614) the second set of synchronizationattributes from the second active UE 208B. The first active UE 208A maydetermine (block 616) whether the first set of synchronizationattributes correlates with the second set of synchronization attributes.In certain embodiments, the first active UE 208A may determine one ormore of the first set of synchronization attributes are within thresholdvalues of the second set of synchronization attributes. For example, thefirst active UE 208A may determine a first frequency is within athreshold frequency value of a second frequency. If the first set ofsynchronization attributes does not correlate with the second set ofsynchronization attributes (NO path of block 616), the first active UE208A may return to block 604 to receive one or more additionalsynchronization signals. If the first set of synchronization attributesdoes correlate with the second set of synchronization attributes (YESpath of block 616), the first active UE 208A may establish a connectionwith the wireless communication network based on the first set ofsynchronization attributes, the second set of synchronizationattributes, or both.

The active UEs 208 may also receive synchronization signals from asource external from the wireless communication network, such as aglobal navigation satellite system (GNSS) signal. Alternatively, theprimary UE may transmit synchronization signals to UE 10 within thegroup of UE 206. The UE 10 may receive the synchronization signals andmay determine timing synchronization and/or frequency synchronizationbased on the synchronization signals. The primary user equipment mayselect a bandwidth associated with the synchronization signals.Additionally, the primary user equipment may select a transmissionduration associated with the synchronization signals based on thefrequency. The primary user equipment may also select a periodicityassociated with the synchronization signals

With the foregoing in mind, FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a method 700 forphase synchronization of the group of UE 206, according to embodimentsof the present disclosure. Any suitable device (e.g., a controller) thatmay control components of the network 102, the base stations 104, theapplication server 202, the group of user equipment (UE) 206, the activeUEs 208, and/or the passive UEs 210, such as one or more respectiveprocessors 12 of these devices, may perform the method 700. In someembodiments, the method 700 may be implemented by executing instructionsstored in a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such asthe one or more respective memories 14 or storages 16 of these devices,using the processors 12. For example, the method 700 may be performed atleast in part by one or more software components, such as one or morerespective operating systems of the network 102, the base stations 104,the application server 202, the group of user equipment (UE) 206, theactive UEs 208, and/or the passive UEs 210, one or more softwareapplications of the network 102, the base stations 104, the applicationserver 202, the group of user equipment (UE) 206, the active UEs 208,and/or the passive UEs 210 and the like. While the method 700 isdescribed using steps in a specific sequence, it should be understoodthat the present disclosure contemplates that the described steps may beperformed in different sequences than the sequence illustrated, andcertain described steps may be skipped or not performed altogether.

At block 702, the first active UE 208A may transmit a first set ofreference signals to base stations 104. Each active UE 208 may transmitsounding reference signals to one or more base stations 104 via thewireless communication network 102. The second active UE 208B maytransmit (block 704) a second set of reference signals to the basestations 104. The base stations 104 may receive (block 706) a first setof reference signals from active UEs 208 and a second set of referencesignals from passive UEs 210. The base stations 104 may determine (block708) a set of phases based on the first and second sets of referencesignals. The base stations 104 may receive the sets of reference signalsand may determine phase relationships (e.g., phase differences) betweenthe UE 10 within the group of UE 206. The base stations 104 may transmit(block 710) the set of phases to active UEs 208. The first active UE208A may receive (block 712) the set of phases. The first active UE 208Amay transmit (block 714) the set of phases to the second active UE 208B.The second active UE 208B may receive (block 716) the set of phases. Assuch, the active UEs 208 may transmit and/or receive data and/or signalsusing the set of phases. Each active UE 208 may transmit and/or receivedata using a corresponding phase of the set of phases.

With the foregoing in mind, FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method 800 toreceive system information associated with the wireless communicationnetwork 102, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Anysuitable device (e.g., a controller) that may control components of thenetwork 102, the base stations 104, the application server 202, thegroup of user equipment (UE) 206, the active UEs 208, and/or the passiveUEs 210, such as one or more respective processors 12 of these devices,may perform the method 800. In some embodiments, the method 800 may beimplemented by executing instructions stored in a tangible,non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the one or morerespective memories 14 or storages 16 of these devices, using theprocessors 12. For example, the method 800 may be performed at least inpart by one or more software components, such as one or more respectiveoperating systems of the network 102, the base stations 104, theapplication server 202, the group of user equipment (UE) 206, the activeUEs 208, and/or the passive UEs 210, one or more software applicationsof the network 102, the base stations 104, the application server 202,the group of user equipment (UE) 206, the active UEs 208, and/or thepassive UEs 210 and the like. While the method 800 is described usingsteps in a specific sequence, it should be understood that the presentdisclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed indifferent sequences than the sequence illustrated, and certain describedsteps may be skipped or not performed altogether.

At block 802, the base stations 104 may transmit a radio synchronizationsignal to active UEs 208. The radio synchronization signal may include aprimary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal(SSS), and so forth. The first active UE 208A may receive (block 804)the radio synchronization signal from the base stations 104. The firstactive UE 208A may determine (block 808) a set of network attributesbased on the radio synchronization signal. The set of network attributesmay include radio frame boundaries, a frequency, a timing, a cellidentifier, and so forth. The first active UE 208A may determine (block810) a first set of synchronization attributes based on the radiosynchronization signal. At block 812, the first active UE 208A maytransmit the set of network attributes to the second active UE 208B. Atblock 816, the base stations 104 may transmit system information toactive UEs 208. The first active UE 208A may receive (block 818) systeminformation from base stations 104 based on the set of networkattributes. The first active UE 208A may also transmit the systeminformation to the second active UE 208B. The second active UE 208B mayreceive (block 820) system information based on the set of networkattributes and may establish a connection with the wirelesscommunication network 102 based on the system information.

With the foregoing in mind, FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a method 900 toreceive system information associated with the wireless communicationnetwork 102, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Anysuitable device (e.g., a controller) that may control components of thenetwork 102, the base stations 104, the application server 202, thegroup of user equipment (UE) 206, the active UEs 208, and/or the passiveUEs 210, such as one or more respective processors 12 of these devices,may perform the method 900. In some embodiments, the method 900 may beimplemented by executing instructions stored in a tangible,non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the one or morerespective memories 14 or storages 16 of these devices, using theprocessors 12. For example, the method 900 may be performed at least inpart by one or more software components, such as one or more respectiveoperating systems of the network 102, the base stations 104, theapplication server 202, the group of user equipment (UE) 206, the activeUEs 208, and/or the passive UEs 210, one or more software applicationsof the network 102, the base stations 104, the application server 202,the group of user equipment (UE) 206, the active UEs 208, and/or thepassive UEs 210 and the like. While the method 900 is described usingsteps in a specific sequence, it should be understood that the presentdisclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed indifferent sequences than the sequence illustrated, and certain describedsteps may be skipped or not performed altogether.

The first active UE 208A may transmit (block 902) transmissionattributes to one or more active UE 208, such as second active UE 208B.The transmission attributes may include a time associated withtransmission to the wireless communication network 102, a frequencyassociated with transmission to the wireless communication network 102,a signature associated with transmission to the wireless communicationnetwork 102, a cell identifier, and so forth. The first active UE 208Amay transmit (block 904) a random access signal to the base stations104. Additionally, the first active UE 208A may transmit the randomaccess signal to one or more active UE 208. The second active UE 208Bmay receive (block 906) transmission attributes. The second active UE208B may also receive (block 908) the random access signal from thefirst active UE 208A and may transmit (block 910) the random accesssignal to the base stations 104. The base stations 104 may receive(block 912) the random access signal from the first active UE 208Aand/or the second active UE 208B. At block 914, the base stations 104may transmit an acknowledgement message based on the one or more randomaccess signals. The base stations 104 may also transmit (block 916) anaccess response message to first active UE 208A and second active UE208B. The first active UE 208A may receive (block 918) the accessresponse message from the base stations 104. The first active UE 208Amay adjust (block 920) an operating state associated with the firstactive UE 208A based on the access response message. For example, thefirst active UE 208A may begin a connected mode. The second active UE208B may receive (block 920) the access response message from the basestations 104. The second active UE 208A may adjust (block 922) anoperating state associated with the second active UE 208A based on theaccess response message. For example, the second active UE 208A maybegin the connected mode.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method 1000 to establish a connectionbetween the group of user equipment 206 and the wireless communicationnetwork, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Anysuitable device (e.g., a controller) that may control components of thenetwork 102, the base stations 104, the application server 202, thegroup of user equipment (UE) 206, the active UEs 208, and/or the passiveUEs 210, such as one or more respective processors 12 of these devices,may perform the method 1000. In some embodiments, the method 1000 may beimplemented by executing instructions stored in a tangible,non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the one or morerespective memories 14 or storages 16 of these devices, using theprocessors 12. For example, the method 1000 may be performed at least inpart by one or more software components, such as one or more respectiveoperating systems of the network 102, the base stations 104, theapplication server 202, the group of user equipment (UE) 206, the activeUEs 208, and/or the passive UEs 210, one or more software applicationsof the network 102, the base stations 104, the application server 202,the group of user equipment (UE) 206, the active UEs 208, and/or thepassive UEs 210 and the like. While the method 1000 is described usingsteps in a specific sequence, it should be understood that the presentdisclosure contemplates that the described steps may be performed indifferent sequences than the sequence illustrated, and certain describedsteps may be skipped or not performed altogether.

The base station may transmit an indication of an access responsemessage on a downlink control channel. At block 1002, the active UE 208may receive an indication of the access response message via a firstdownlink channel from the base stations 104. The base stations 104 maytransmit the access response message to any number of active UE 208. Theaccess response message may include communication information associatedwith the wireless communication network 102. The base stations 104 mayalso transmit information associated with a downlink shared channel. Theactive UE 208 may receive (block 1004) the control information via thefirst downlink channel. Any number of active UE 208 may monitor thedownlink control channel and may receive the control channel informationfrom the base stations 104 via the downlink control channel. The activeUE 208 may transmit (block 1006) the control information to a set ofactive UEs 208. In certain embodiments, the active UE 208 may transmitthe control information to the primary UE. The primary user equipmentmay aggregate and/or assemble control channel signal for processing anddecoding control channel information. The active UE 208 may receiveand/or decode the control channel information and may transmit thecontrol channel information to the primary user equipment. The controlchannel information may include downlink control information thatidentifies information associated with a transmission (e.g., theacknowledgement message) on the downlink shared channel. The active UE208 may utilize the information to receive the access response messagevia the downlink shared channel. The active UE 208 may receive (block1008) the access response message via a second downlink channel based onthe control information. The active UE 208 may receive (block 1010) anacknowledgement based on the access response message. The active UE 208may receive (block 1012) second control information based on the accessresponse message. The primary user equipment may receive the secondcontrol information and may determine communication parameters (e.g.,time, frequency, temporary identifier, timing adjustment, and so forth)associated with transmission of an access message. The primary userequipment may transmit the communication parameters to the active UE208. The active UE 208 may transmit (block 1014) the access message viaa second uplink channel based on the second control information. Theactive UE 208 may receive (block 1016) a transition message. In certainembodiments, the primary user equipment may transmit the transitionmessage to any number of active UE 208. The active UE 208 may adjust(block 1018) an operating state based on the transition message. Forexample, the active UE 208 may begin the connected mode. The active UE208 may establish a connection with the wireless communication network102.

In an embodiment, an electronic device includes a transmitter, areceiver, and a processor coupled to the transmitter and the receiver.The processor receives a synchronization signal via a wirelesscommunication network, transmits a reference signal based on thesynchronization signal, receives a message from a first user equipmentbased on the reference signal, and establishes a device-to-devicecommunication link between the first user equipment and a second userequipment.

The processor also performs a configuration based on the message.

The processor also selects the reference signal from a set of referencesignals based on a set of communication factors.

The processor also transmits a wake-up signal to the first userequipment via the device-to-device communication link The wake-up signalcauses the first user equipment to activate a cellular receiver. Eachreference signal of the set of reference signals includes acorresponding frequency.

The set of communication factors includes a location factor associatedwith the second user equipment.

The processor also scans for a second reference signal based on thesynchronization signal.

The synchronization signal includes a frame boundary associated with thewireless communication network.

In another embodiment, a method includes receiving, at a first userequipment, a set of user equipment attributes associated with the firstuser equipment, receiving at the first user equipment, a set ofconnection criteria associated with a wireless communication network,and establishing a device-to-device communication link with a seconduser equipment based on the set of user equipment attributes satisfyingat least one of the set of connection criteria.

The method also includes broadcasting a reference signal to one or moreuser equipment based on the set of user equipment attributes satisfyingthe at least one of the set of connection criteria.

The method also includes receiving, at the first user equipment, amessage from the second user equipment based on the reference signal.

The method also includes scanning for a second reference signal based onthe set of user equipment attributes satisfying the at least one of theset of connection criteria.

The method also includes receiving the second reference signal from athird user equipment and establishing a second device-to-devicecommunication link with the third user equipment.

The set of connection criteria includes a signal strength thresholdassociated with the wireless communication network, a battery thresholdassociated with the first user equipment, a geographic area, a timewindow, or any combination thereof.

The set of user equipment attributes includes a battery level associatedwith the first user equipment, a location associated with the first userequipment, a power connection associated with the first user equipment,a signal strength associated with the wireless communication network, orany combination thereof.

In yet another embodiment, one or more non-transitory, tangible,computer-readable media store instructions that cause a processor toreceive a message from a first user equipment associated with membershipin a group of user equipment, wherein the group of user equipmentcomprises the first user equipment and a second user equipment, adjust aset of device identifiers associated with the group of user equipmentbased on the message, and transmit the set of device identifiers to abase station associated with a wireless communication network.

The instructions also cause the processor to determine a signal strengthassociated with a device-to-device communication link between the seconduser equipment and a third user equipment, the group of user equipmentcomprising the third user equipment.

The instructions also cause the processor to transmit an exit message tothe third user equipment based on the signal strength failing to satisfya signal strength threshold.

The instructions also cause the processor to terminate thedevice-to-device communication link between the second user equipmentand the third user equipment based on the signal strength failing tosatisfy the signal strength threshold.

The instructions also cause the processor to update the set of deviceidentifiers associated with the group of user equipment based on thesignal strength failing to satisfy the signal strength threshold.

The instructions also cause the processor to determine an elapsed timefrom receiving a previous message associated with a third userequipment, the group of user equipment comprising the third userequipment and terminate the device-to-device communication link betweenthe second user equipment and the third user equipment based on theelapsed time exceeding a threshold time duration.

In an embodiment, an electronic device includes a transmitter, areceiver, and a processor coupled to the transmitter and the receiver.The processor receives a synchronization signal associated with awireless communication network from a base station, receives a first setof synchronization attributes based on the synchronization signal, andreceives a second set of synchronization attributes from a second userequipment, the second user equipment being configured to receive thesynchronization signal from the base station. The processor alsotransmits the first set of synchronization attributes to the second userequipment based on the first set of synchronization attributescorrelating with the second set of synchronization attributes.

The processor also causes the second user equipment to establish aconnection with the wireless communication network based on the firstset of synchronization attributes.

The processor also transmits the first set of synchronization attributesto a third user equipment.

The processor causes the third user equipment to establish a connectionwith the wireless communication network based on the first set ofsynchronization attributes.

The processor transmits a first set of reference signals to the basestation, the base station receiving a second set of reference signalsfrom the second user equipment.

The processor also receives a set of phases associated with the firstset of reference signals or the second set of reference signals from thebase station and transmits the set of phases to the second userequipment.

The first set of synchronization attributes comprises a synchronizationfrequency, a synchronization time, or both.

In another embodiment, a method includes receiving, at a first userequipment, a first portion of system information associated with awireless communication network from a base station, receiving, at thefirst user equipment, a second portion of system information associatedwith the wireless communication network from a second user equipment viaa device-to-device communication link, and establishing a connectionwith the wireless communication network based at least in part on thefirst portion of system information and the second portion of systeminformation.

The method also includes transmitting the first portion of systeminformation to the second user equipment.

The method also includes causing the second user equipment to establisha connection with the wireless communication network based at least inpart of the first portion of system information and the second portionof system information.

The method also includes receiving a frequency associated with thewireless communication network, a cell identifier associated with thewireless communication network, or both based at least in part on thefirst portion of system information and the second portion of systeminformation.

The method also includes transmitting the first portion of systeminformation and the second portion of system information to a third userequipment via a second device-to-device communication link.

The method also includes causing the third user equipment to establish aconnection with the wireless communication network based on the firstportion of system information and the second portion of systeminformation.

The method also includes transmitting a set of user equipment attributesassociated with the first user equipment to the second user equipmentand causing the second user equipment to receive a synchronizationsignal based on the set of user equipment attributes.

In yet another embodiment, one or more non-transitory, tangible,computer-readable media store instructions that cause a processor toreceive a first synchronization signal from a base station via awireless communication network, receive a second synchronization signalfrom a second user equipment via a device-to-device communication link,receive a set of system information based on the first synchronizationsignal and the second synchronization signal, and establish a connectionwith the wireless communication network based at least in part on theset of system information.

The instructions also cause the processor to transmit the set of systeminformation to the second user equipment and cause the second userequipment to establish a connection with the wireless communicationnetwork based on the set of system information.

The instructions also cause the processor to receive a second set ofsystem information associated with the wireless communication networkfrom a third user equipment and establish a second connection with thewireless communication network based on the second set of systeminformation.

The instructions also cause the processor to transmit the second set ofsystem information to a fourth user equipment and cause the fourth userequipment to establish a connection with the wireless communicationnetwork based on the second set of system information.

The instructions also cause the processor to receive a set of networkattributes associated with the wireless communication network based onthe set of system information.

The instructions also cause the processor to establish the connectionwith the wireless communication network based on the set of networkattributes.

In yet another embodiment, an electronic device includes a transmitter,a receiver, and a processor coupled to the transmitter and the receiver.The processor transmits an access signal to a set of user equipmentwithin a group of user equipment, transmits a set of transmissionattributes associated with the access signal to the set of userequipment, and causes the set of user equipment to transmit the accesssignal to a base station of a wireless communication network based onthe set of transmission attributes.

The processor also receives an acknowledgment message from the basestation via a first channel and receives control information associatedwith a second channel based on the acknowledgement message.

The processor also receives a response message via the second channelbased on the control information.

The processor also transmits the control information to the set of userequipment and causes at least one user equipment of the set of userequipment to receive a response message via the second channel based onthe control information.

The processor also receives second control information from the basestation based on the response message and transmits an access message tothe base station via the second channel.

The processor also transmits the second control information to the setof user equipment and causes the set of user equipment to transmit theaccess message to the base station based on the second controlinformation.

The processor also causes the base station to transmit a transitionmessage based on the access message and adjusts an operational modebased on the transition message.

In another embodiment, a method includes receiving an access signal froma group of user equipment, transmitting an acknowledgement message tothe group of user equipment via a first channel, transmitting a responsemessage to the group of user equipment via a second channel, and causingat least one user equipment of the group of user equipment to receivethe response message based on the acknowledgement message.

The acknowledgement message comprises information associated with thesecond channel.

The method also includes causing the at least one user equipment totransmit an access message based on the response message.

The response message includes a frequency associated with the accessmessage, a time associated with the access message, or both.

The method also includes receiving the access message, transmitting atransition message based on the access message, and causing the at leastone user equipment to adjust an operational mode based on the transitionmessage.

The method also includes receiving a set of reference signals from a setof user equipment, each reference signal associated with a correspondingphase, selecting a first reference signal from the set of referencesignals based on a signal strength associated with the first referencesignal, and transmitting information associated with the first referencesignal to the at least one user equipment.

In another embodiment, one or more non-transitory, tangible,computer-readable media store instructions that cause a processor toreceive a set of reference signals associated with a group of userequipment, each reference signal associated with a corresponding phase,select a reference signal from the set of reference signals based atleast in part on a signal strength associated with the reference signal,transmit information associated with the reference signal to at leastone user equipment of the group of user equipment, and cause the atleast one user equipment to transmit the information to the group ofuser equipment.

The instructions also cause the processor to receive an access messagefrom the group of user equipment based on a first phase associated withthe reference signal.

The instructions also cause the processor to transmit data to the atleast one user equipment of the group of user equipment and cause the atleast one user equipment to transmit the data to the group of userequipment.

The instructions also cause the processor to transmit a transitionmessage to the at least one user equipment, the transition messageadjusting an operational mode of the at least one user equipment.

The instructions also cause the processor to transmit a configurationmessage associated with a timing for the group of user equipment to theat least one user equipment and cause the at least one user equipment totransmit one or more messages based on the timing.

The timing includes a delay associated with a device-to-devicecommunication link between the at least one user equipment and a seconduser equipment of the group of user equipment.

The instructions also cause the processor to retransmit theconfiguration message to the at least one user equipment based on anelapsed time meeting or exceeding the delay.

The specific embodiments described above have been shown by way ofexample, and it should be understood that these embodiments may besusceptible to various modifications and alternative forms. It should befurther understood that the claims are not intended to be limited to theparticular forms disclosed, but rather to cover all modifications,equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope ofthis disclosure.

The techniques presented and claimed herein are referenced and appliedto material objects and concrete examples of a practical nature thatdemonstrably improve the present technical field and, as such, are notabstract, intangible or purely theoretical. Further, if any claimsappended to the end of this specification contain one or more elementsdesignated as “means for [perform[ing [a function] . . . ” or “step for[perform[ing [a function] . . . ,” it is intended that such elements areto be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f). However, for any claimscontaining elements designated in any other manner, it is intended thatsuch elements are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f).

It is well understood that the use of personally identifiableinformation should follow privacy policies and practices that aregenerally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmentalrequirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular,personally identifiable information data should be managed and handledso as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use,and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.

1. An electronic device, comprising: a transmitter; a receiver; and aprocessor coupled to the transmitter and the receiver, the processorconfigured to: receive a synchronization signal associated with awireless communication network from a base station; receive a first setof synchronization attributes based on the synchronization signal;receive a second set of synchronization attributes from a second userequipment, the second user equipment being configured to receive thesynchronization signal from the base station; and transmit the first setof synchronization attributes to the second user equipment based on thefirst set of synchronization attributes correlating with the second setof synchronization attributes.
 2. The electronic device of claim 1,wherein the processor is configured to cause the second user equipmentto establish a connection with the wireless communication network basedon the first set of synchronization attributes.
 3. The electronic deviceof claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to transmit the firstset of synchronization attributes to a third user equipment.
 4. Theelectronic device of claim 3, wherein the processor is configured tocause the third user equipment to establish a connection with thewireless communication network based on the first set of synchronizationattributes.
 5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processoris configured to transmit a first set of reference signals to the basestation, the base station being configured to receive a second set ofreference signals from the second user equipment.
 6. The electronicdevice of claim 5, wherein the processor is configured to: receive a setof phases associated with the first set of reference signals or thesecond set of reference signals from the base station; and transmit theset of phases to the second user equipment.
 7. The electronic device ofclaim 1, wherein the first set of synchronization attributes comprises asynchronization frequency, a synchronization time, or both.
 8. A method,comprising: receiving, at a first user equipment, a first portion ofsystem information associated with a wireless communication network froma base station; receiving, at the first user equipment, a second portionof system information associated with the wireless communication networkfrom a second user equipment via a device-to-device communication link;and establishing a connection with the wireless communication networkbased at least in part on the first portion of system information andthe second portion of system information.
 9. The method of claim 8,comprising transmitting the first portion of system information to thesecond user equipment.
 10. The method of claim 9, comprising causing thesecond user equipment to establish a connection with the wirelesscommunication network based at least in part of the first portion ofsystem information and the second portion of system information.
 11. Themethod of claim 8, comprising receiving a frequency associated with thewireless communication network, a cell identifier associated with thewireless communication network, or both based at least in part on thefirst portion of system information and the second portion of systeminformation.
 12. The method of claim 8, comprising transmitting thefirst portion of system information and the second portion of systeminformation to a third user equipment via a second device-to-devicecommunication link.
 13. The method of claim 12, comprising causing thethird user equipment to establish a connection with the wirelesscommunication network based on the first portion of system informationand the second portion of system information.
 14. The method of claim 8,comprising: transmitting a set of user equipment attributes associatedwith the first user equipment to the second user equipment; and causingthe second user equipment to receive a synchronization signal based onthe set of user equipment attributes.
 15. One or more non-transitory,tangible, computer-readable media that store instructions configured tocause a processor to: receive a first synchronization signal from a basestation via a wireless communication network; receive a secondsynchronization signal from a second user equipment via adevice-to-device communication link; receive a set of system informationbased on the first synchronization signal and the second synchronizationsignal; and establish a connection with the wireless communicationnetwork based at least in part on the set of system information.
 16. Theone or more non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable media of claim15, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the processor to:transmit the set of system information to the second user equipment; andcause the second user equipment to establish a connection with thewireless communication network based on the set of system information.17. The one or more non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable media ofclaim 15, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the processorto: receive a second set of system information associated with thewireless communication network from a third user equipment; andestablish a second connection with the wireless communication networkbased on the second set of system information.
 18. The one or morenon-transitory, tangible, computer-readable media of claim 17, whereinthe instructions are configured to cause the processor to: transmit thesecond set of system information to a fourth user equipment; and causethe fourth user equipment to establish a connection with the wirelesscommunication network based on the second set of system information. 19.The one or more non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable media ofclaim 15, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the processorto receive a set of network attributes associated with the wirelesscommunication network based on the set of system information.
 20. Theone or more non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable media of claim19, wherein the instructions are configured to cause the processor toestablish the connection with the wireless communication network basedon the set of network attributes.